The Royal Dragoneers – M.R. Mathias

Storyline: Dragoneers and dragon tears… M.R. Mathias’ The Royal Dragoneers is an outstanding new take on a very old fantasy theme: dragons, trolls and magic.

Jenka De Swasso wants nothing more than to be a King’s Ranger and, as usual for someone with a destiny larger than themselves, his life takes a sudden and dramatic turn after an encounter with a young dragon named Jade.

The goblins have a new king, Gravelbone, and are organizing with the “mudged” dragons to drive man out of their lands. Gravelbone intends to destroy the king’s huge defensive wall, poison the entire kingdom and make the survivors into his slaves.

Zah and Jenka are the only ones that can save the kingdom from the demon Gravelbone and his nightshade. Together, they must convince the king of the impending war, avoid being locked away for being dragon sympathizers and learn the true nature of their bonds with their pure blooded dragons, Jade and Crystal.

Grammar/Spelling: I noticed some inconsistencies with the spelling of a character named Rikky. Occasionally, it was spelled with only one “k”. There were also some minor punctuation problems that another read through with a beta reader could definitely take care of.

Character Development: The characters range from a powerful Druida to a stubborn young King’s Ranger to dragons, each with their own form of magic to help move the story along very nicely.

One of the standout characters for me was Rikky. He is barely a teenager and even at his young age, he shows a ferociousness and tenacity seldom seen even in men twice his age. Even after a debilitating attack from the goblins, he is determined to seek revenge on the Goblin King at nearly any cost.

Writing Style: Mr. Mathias has taken a tired old genre, reshaped and revamped it to start an entirely new saga with some surprising twists. The Royal Dragoneers have each bonded with a pureblooded dragon from the far northern reaches of the kingdom and the idea that not only can man fly with a dragon, but that he could literally bond with one is incredible. Is it possible that Avatar got the idea from Mr. Mathias? Hmmmm?

His depictions of the battles between the pureblood dragons and the mudged (or tainted) dragons are both energizing and amazing. I can almost feel the wind whooshing by as the dragons barrel dive and spray fire (even ice!) on their enemies below.

The story does have some graphic scenes of violence and gore and a sprinkle of adult language, so I don’t know that it is for everyone.

Continuity: No issues noted with continuity.

Overall Rating: 4

Bravo, Mr. Mathias! Your Royal Dragoneers is truly a new spin on an old dragon tale. I really want my own Dragon Tear and my own dragon. So, if you see any flyin’ about, send ’em my way and I might be so inclined to come pick ya’ up and we’ll go for a ride!

Great job, sir! Not just another cookie cutter fantasy with terrible, made up names and a predictable story-line; but, the makings of a great series that could continue for a long, long time! I look forward to reading the rest of the saga and learning more about dragons and their amazing powers.